We bloggers, tend to pay a lot of attention to numbers: how many people read our posts, how many followers we have and gain, etc. Let’s face it, it’s an ego thing. However, one key element we generally pay less attention to is the actual quality of visits.

You might be familiar with the term ‘bounce rate’, which refers to people who land on your page only to immediately exit because they are somewhat unsatisfied with your content. Your bounce rate is an important metric in showing you how much people enjoy visiting your blog, and you should make a goal of keeping it as low as possible.

With that said, here are 5 reasons why people might be bouncing off your page.

1.Pop-ups

Whether it is an app invite when people see your blog on mobile, an ad or a newsletter sign up offer, pop-ups can be a real turn off. While there is nothing wrong with offering any of those things, asking people to interact further with you before they even have the chance to decide whether they like you or not can be a big mistake. Pop-ups are particularly irritating on mobile, as they can often slow down a site considerably.

2.Misleading content title

This is a very common approach when bloggers promote their posts on social media, and try to ride the wave of a completely unrelated emerging trend. Don’t trick people into reading your blog with a misleading title or featured image. Not only will this definitely increase your bounce rate, but it will hurt your reputation too. You should always aim to deliver what you promise in your title.

3.Hard to read

There could be several reasons why your content is hard to read, such as a poorly chosen background/writing content colour combination, a small font size, etc. Huge chunky paragraphs are also a no no. In a day and age where we are overwhelmed by online content and the average human attention span has officially lowered below that of gold fish (no joke), most people don’t have the time or will to read content displayed in an imposing format, and of course, you should also stay away from typos, poor sentence structures and misused punctuation.

4,Writing style too formal

There is a fine balance between writing well and being overly formal. Blogging is a different platform to academic writing, and most readers want your style and personality to shine through your writing. While it may seem professional to use a formal tone, it’s not necessarily appropriate to your audience. There is nothing better to get readers on board than a couple of jokes and a hint of wit.

5.No social buttons

Social media and blogging have become so integrated that you might miss a trick by not making your profiles visible on your blog. Often, readers will want to know about you and try and find you on social media, only to notice the lack of social buttons on your blog.

Keep your social media buttons visible on your blog, preferably above the fold so people don’t have to scroll down to find you. You should also make sure they are big enough and prominently displayed i.e. not blending with your background. And of course, make sure the buttons don’t link to broken pages!

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